Power
by QuantumRipple
Summary: Harry Potter's encounter with Voldemort in year 1 changes his outlook in life, he gains new goal, one that will see him become far more powerful than Merlin himself. Yet, he isn't the only one, others hide in the fringes, awaiting the time when they too will rise up.
1. Chapter 1 - Awakening

The material fell to the floor with a dramatic flutter, from the darkness within two blood red eyes shone out, light touched a pale skull, veins criss-crossing lazily. Fear gripped Harry's insides as the eyes began to shine with glee.

"N-no your dead, DEAD!" He yelled in desperation, tears beginning to form in his eyes, was this it, was this to be the end of Harry Potter, the illustrious boy-who-lived.

"Ah," came a raspy voice, filled with hatred and contempt. "Yet here I am, _boy_."

"I'm not giving you the stone bastard, my parents were the last you killed and the last you will ever kill." He said defiantly.

"Id like to see you try." He sneered, "Come on, hit me with your best." He laughed.

Harry knew he had no chance, no lethal spells, nothing _powerful_

' _I swear if I ever make it out of this alive I'm going to learn spells that actually do stuff.'_

He knew his only chance was something Voldemort wouldn't expect, even then it was slim.

"Hahaha, fool, nobody here to die for you this time, just you and me. So ill give you one last chance. ~ _Where is the stone?~"_ He finished, slipping into parseltongue in his anger.

Harry looked at the ceiling and noticed the chamber he was in was a dome, the centre, where Voldemort was was in the middle of the room and the dome was held up by a cornerstone right at the top. It was then he had a flash of blind desperation, a scene involving a rampant troll suddenly came to mind.

' _Maybe I can…? Well, what other choice do I have.'_

He raised his wand slowly, determination set in his face, blood dripped down from where he had impacted with the wall.

" _~You wish to fight me? You are as foolish as your father boy~"_ He had foregone using English in an attempt to infuriate Harry, not realising Harry understood him perfectly.

" _~I don't care~"_ He started, shocking Voldemort, " _~I hope you die for bloody good this time monster, goodness knows I won't be around to take you out a second time to remove you~_ "

He pointed his wand up.

" _~Ha! I must've knocked something loose, I'm over here idiot.~_ "

Harry ignored him.

' _Looks like my last act in life will be a murder, funny, started with one, now it ends with one._

 _I'm sorry Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, you all believed in me, mum, dad, I'm on my way.'_ He thought with a smile.

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" He yelled, and with a mighty downwards arc the cornerstone moved with his wand and hurtled towards an unsuspecting Voldemort, who barely began to raise his arm when the roof collapsed on him. Harry closed his eyes, but rather than feeling the pain he was expecting he felt a different sensation. The same he realised as the time he had accidentally teleported from Dudley's gang; except this time, it was accompanied by the feeling of someone holding his arm.

He reappeared in what he recognised as the hospital wing, he could hear a great crashing and crumbling sound in the distance, felt the vibrations of the castle, until it abruptly stopped.

He looked up, distraught, and saw a familiar white beard.

"Professor! It-it was Voldemort, and-I I, I kill-I, Hermione! Ron! Are they ok?"

"Harry, Harry, calm down, all is resolved, Ron and Hermione are fine, right next to you in fact." He motioned to his side where Hermione and Ron were occupying beds, Hermione looking at her, her eyes shining with happiness. "Tonight's events were, trying. Perhaps," he offered a bottle of dreamless sleep draught. "You ought to rest and I will explain in the morning."

He took the potion and the moment it touched his lips he was gone, waking almost instantly, to him, yet far more refreshed and relaxed. He pulled his head out the pillow the moment the doors opened and Dumbledore walked into the room.

"Professor, I shouldn't have gone in that chamber." He started.

"All is forgiven Harry, all is forgotten."

"But was that Voldemort?"

"Yes, yes that was, but it was merely a shadow, a shadow which you yourself have stopped." Dumbledore placated him.

"But, I killed him, hell I thought I'd Killed me, I'm Just, just as…"

"Bad as him?" Dumbledore asked. "But you see you did not kill in cold blood, you had no choice, you wanted to stop him. You had no other way of ending it, overpowering him wasn't an option." He said in a kind voice. "It would not do to dwell on it."

"But it wasn't just him sir, there was the man he possessed, Quirrell, he, he had nothing to do with it." He said, tears forming in his eyes.

Dumbledore took on a sad look, it always pained him greatly to see one lose their innocence.

"For that, I have no simple answer Harry, but know this, with or without you, Quirrell was dead the moment Voldemort took hold of him."

"He's going to come back again isn't he? Voldemort I mean." Harry said with resignation.

"Yes, I fear that may indeed be the case." Dumbledore added ramosely.

"Why? Why me?"

"I, had wished to save you, your innocence, but in that I have failed, it may now be merely a question of saving your life". He stated sorrow filling his voice. "One evening, before your birth I was interviewing one Sybill Trelawney, a seer. For a position as a teacher here, when she uttered a prophecy." He picked up a piece of paper from within his robes and touched his wand to it, the words began crawling up the page and Harry read:

 _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..._

Harry was dumbstruck, This was his purpose.

"I'm sorry to have to show you this," Dumbledore said as he magically burnt the paper in a brilliant lilac fire.

"No, thank you professor, I, I have a goal now don't I." Harry said looking up at him. "Besides, II already promised myself I would become stronger if I ever made it out alive." He said giving Dumbledore a determined look.

"You are commendable Harry." Dumbledore started. "Not many young witches and wizards would have acted as honourably as you do. If you ever find yourself in need of help remember that Hogwarts provides help for all who need it." He said, his eyes twinkling like crazy. "Ah but you've listened to me rambling on for long enough now, I do believe your friends wish to see you." He sat up and left the room as Ron, Hermione and the twins came bounding in.

"Harry!" Hermione started, "I was so worried, I'm glad you're ok."

"Thanks Hermione I'm fine."

"We all felt the castle shake," the twins said "It was amazing, could hear the slytherins shrieking from miles out."

They all laughed and chatted away, Madam Pomphrey gave up attempting to chase them away after a while, much later she declared that he was fit to roam again, with a stern warning of being safer next time.

Fred and George bid them farewell and broke off to get up to their usual hijinks. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided that they hadn't explored the castle well enough with all the hassle the stone caused.

So they began exploring, they had searched nearly the entirety of the first floor when Harry stopped.

"Ron, Hermione, I have to tell you something."

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I, I can talk to snakes." He said.

Hermione looked confused but Ron gasped.

"Snakes? Blimey Harry, you're a parseltongue."

"Is it bad? I mean, Yesterday Voldemort was speaking in it and I've not seen anyone else do it either."

"Well, of course you haven't, parseltongues are very rare mate, they say it's a sign of a dark wizard" He finished with a whisper.

"But im not a dark wizard."

"Well no, but its genetic, so it may be a case of having a dark wizard in the family," he rationalised, "or youre a Black."

"A black?" Harry and Hermione asked.

"Yea, very old family, and very dark." He finished.

"Oh." Harry said softly.

"Don't worry, they weren't all dark wizards you know, in fact the one I know of that wasn't dark was in Gryffindor, well, wasn't until the end."

"Who?"

"Sirius Black, Dad knew him, not sure how though." He mused.

"Ah well, guess I've gotta do a better job then Hey?" He laughed.

"So like, what does it sound like."

"Well, like this," he said, " _~This day will be your last~_ " He started to laugh.

"Blimey mate that's creepy"

"I know right man, but end of the day snakes are just another animal right?"

"Its not just that, theres a whole load of spells that only people with parseltongue can do, even if someone practised the hissing and did it perfectly they'd be lucky for a spark."

"that's interesting." Harry said.

Hermoine looked to the two of them, "Guys, according to _Hogwarts a History_ , there is rumours of a chamber created by Salazaar Slytherin himself, maybe there are tomes of this magic in there?"

They all nodded in agreement but accepted that three first years were hardly going to find the chamber of secrets. So, they laughed and continued exploring, finding many spectacular things in the few days before classes resumed. For one they realised that there was a decent amount of the castle which was plainly unused except for a few hidey-holes the twins utilised. They found an old abandoned duelling arena that Harry realised would be perfect for the training he would be doing in the coming years, it was in the lower part of the castle, under the first floor at the least and the walls glowed faintly. Harry, in his curiosity sent his best curse, _petrificus totalus_ , at the wall and watched in fascination as it was absorbed into the wall in a grey light. Hermione and Ron had stopped searching the castle with him after the fourth day, not everyone was as insanely curios as him it seemed, and Hermione preferred reading about exploration.

It was the Sunday before classes started and Harry was resting on a ledge high up in the castle on the abandoned side overlooking the lake. Hearing footsteps behind him he saw Fred and George approaching, they sat across from him in a diagonal cutoff.

"Hi harry." They said at once.

"Hey guys." Harry said solemnly, looking over the beautiful sights.

"Its good aint it? Sometimes we like to cause chaos, others just observe the peace." George started.

"What's better is that no one thinks to look for the exited maniacs sitting still on a ledge."

"Convinced we'd fall of ey Fred?"

Harry smiled, he hadn't talked to the twins much but he knew that all the times he did were good conversations.

"So"

"Harrikins."

"what seems,"

"To be getting you down,"

"Way up here?"

Harry chuckled a little, appreciating their antics.

"Well, musing I s'pose . Ive realised that what I learnt in the past year is downright useless if im in a tough spot, and, well, Voldemort came after me this year, he might do it again right?

The twins had already heard about Harry's battle the past week from the Hogwarts grapevine so they were not incredibly surprised.

"My my my Freddie, it appears we have one Potter in need of a good ol' Weasley makeover.

"Why you are right Georgie, there's only one solution for this problem."

And with a wink they grabbed Harry's arm and jumped forward off the tower.

"WHAT THE SHIT!?" Harry screamed. The ground fast approaching, he had his wand in hand and in desperation willed them to stop.

And to his surprise they slowed down halfway to the ground and stopped, Harry looked around in shock and like that he began falling once more. Realising his mistake, he willed himself not to stop but to slowly float to the ground, once nothing was happening and he was still speeding to the ground he was about to crash when the twins arms wrapped around him and two familiar brooms came into view. He was too shocked to say anything until he was unceremoniously dumped onto the ground back at the spot where they were sitting previously. Dazed he looked around before giving the twins his nastiest glare.

"Hold up there, before you eviscerate the two fine specimen right here think about the lesson." Fred Placated, to, mixed results.

Harry decided, against his better judgement to humour them. "I was falling, but when I was desperate I managed to make myself stop?"

"Ah but what was your thought process?"

"Um, I just sorta, knew, I could do it I guess. I'm not sure, it was an in the moment sort of thing really. Though now I feel drained."

"You see Harry, magic is more than just intent, its belief, and knowledge. You may want someone to blow up, but your magic won't respond unless you know it will happen, and it can't do anything unless you mentally direct it in some way, so you need to know what is happening." Harry, nodded, that all made sense.

"What about wand movements and incantations?" He asked

"Well, wand movements shape the magic without you having to think about it, and incantations help you visualise the spell you are performing, as well as circumventing the need to believe in what you are doing."

"If that's the case? Isnt magic limitless in what it can do?"

"Well Harry, that is about as far as our professorly knowledge goes, from what weve seen people have limited magical cores, and the more you use it the more you have, like a muscle."

Harry nodded, that all made sense.

"Where did you learn all that from anyways?"

"Bill, our oldest brother, he's super smart, works as a curse breaker, would've gone into research as an unspeakable if it wasn't for his more Gryffindorish nature."

"You guys mostly seem intelligent eh?" Harry teased,

"Yea mostly, skipped Ronnie though." They laughed.

"Hearts in the right place but brain got lost somewhere along the way." George laughed.

Harry chuckled and looked to the horizon once more, noticing small distortions in the distant clouds and mountains.

"Damn I'm drained though."

"Id Imagine Boy Wonder."

"Surprised you even stopped us all without passing out, far better than we did." They mumbled.

The sun had begun to set, casting a golden orange sheen across the land, throwing everything into a beautiful light.

"Well, guys, nice talking to you, I should probably get back before Hermione busts an artery in worry. Keep in touch."

"Cya Harry." They chorused.

Harry made his way back into the castle, exited at the piece of information the twins gave him, he resolved to spend at least an hour a day practising magic in the old duelling room which he'd be fixing up.

The next week was uneventful, revision had begun and whilst others were worrying about doing well Harry was fairly confident that He'd be ok, though that was probably because he spent a lot of time in the old chamber. So far he had made a small amount of progress, he had never realised it before but he had a lot of magic at his disposal, using it in the volumes he was for practise was helping calm him down. Though it was good so far it was difficult enough merely causing a small breeze to come out his wand but he knew it was all a matter of practise.

Exam time rolled around and Harry found little trouble completing them, that wasn't to say he was brilliant, he just refused to succumb to the stress, he had other far more pressing worries. His practise was showing some fruit, he could now create a strong gale.

' _Perfect, ill make sure to send a breeze Voldemort's way, that'll do it for sure.'_

It appeared that his now more frequent dealings with the twins were showing, he had become rather snarky, but dammit he liked it.

Snarky comments aside, even this seemingly small achievement meant a lot to him, currently he was trying to get his magical power higher and come control going so that he could spend the holiday researching and be ready to start broadening.

In this month he also discovered that he became far more skilled at transfiguration than before, earning a raised eyebrow and a compliment from Hermione. Though he was a bit of an ass when she had asked him what he did differently.

"Harry, when did you get so good at transfiguration?" Hermione inquired.

"Well, I had a brilliant idea when I was facing Quirrelmort, I said to myself, 'Hey Harry, you know what'd really get on good ol' botched nosejob's nerves? Turn him into a newt.'"

"A newt?" She asked, incredulously.

"He'll, get better."

Ron was looking at them quizzically, Hermione's cogs were almost visibly turning until she burst out laughing. Ron was even more confused now, as were many of their classmates besides the muggleborns and some half-bloods.

"Seriously Harry, I warned you, the twins have right rotten your brain."

They all laughed and carried on their way.

All too soon for Harry's liking it was time to board the train to go 'home', Hogwarts was his only home far as he was concerned.

Himself, Ron and Hermione were on a carriage as the train started moving, Harry noticed a familiar giant man out the window.

"Hagrid?"

"Oy 'Arry, Iv'e got you someth'ng fer you to rememb'r yer parents by." Hagrid called passing a large book into his arms.

"Ill see you September Hagrid, have fun, don't get eaten."

"Bye 'Arry." Hagrid called as the train sped off into the distance.

Harry made sure to use the last moments he would have for magic by transfiguring the floor into ice every time a Draco or his musclemen walked by, causing them to slip. Eventually Malfoy caught on but wasn't able to walk into the carriage due to a particularly strong wind. Ron couldn't stop laughing, and Hermione was torn between reprimanding him and congratulating his magic. She eventually settled for both, at the same time.

It was with great sadness that he parted with his friends at Kings cross, and no particular surprise at the lack of Dursleys. However, this was a good thing for Harry as it meant he could travel to Diagon alley. He decided there wasn't anything for it and walked there, it wasn't far anyways.

He arrived at the Leaky Cauldron half an hour later and approached Tom, the barman.

"Hi, Tom was it? Is opening the alley against the underage magic restrictions?"

"No, not at all, you can practise magic under dupervision in Diagon alley and Hogsmede for the record."

"Wait, really?" Harry asked bewildered.

"Yea, not sure why they don't tell people that."

"Ah well, thanks." He said and went to the wall and tapped in the correct orientation.

He marvelled the first time and marvelled still as the bricks opened up, though he knew why now, the past month he had connected with magic far more that when he first entered, so he could just barely feel the magic radiate to him. He looked forward to developing himself further so he could feel it better.

He looked up and began on his way to Gringotts, he had errands to run today.

Walking to the goblin he presented his key and requested to withdraw from his vault, The goblin made the transaction without much fuss and he was soon wandering down the alley to Flourish and Blotts.

He walked into the store and took some books on transfiguration and wandless magic theory, figuring it'd help his goal as he was more interested in power based magic than precise spells which was what the book explained in the abstract. He also picked up a book on alchemy as it claimed to be linked to muggle chemistry and "Thermodynamics" not that he knew what on earth that meant but he was happy nonetheless. His last purchase was an interesting tome on elemental magic, which he realised was what he'd been attempting the past month at Hogwarts.

He walked out with those as well as the next level of his school books, figuring that's what would be required next year and made his way to Ollivander's wand shop, he had hit a wall in the last week as he realised that his wand was weirdly limited in how much power it could output. It was almost as though something was limiting it and he couldn't figure out what.

Shrugging he entered the shop, noticing his absence he realised that Ollivander pulled the same stunt on everyone who walked in here.

"Holly, 11 inches nice and supple." A mysterious voice called from above him.

"I feel like you take it as a personal challenge to remember every wand?"

"Oh its more than that, wands bond with a wizard, I created the wand, I can sense its presence, it's much an instance of me remembering a wand as it is magic itself remembering the wand."

Harry was in awe yet, it made sense.

"Magic is sentient, isn't it?"

"I think you find that magic goes beyond merely sentient." He said with a chuckle. "But alas, what are you after, I sense your wand is in good order so it can't be that."

"Yes, I came because my wand feels off, I was trying to add power to spells but I felt like my wand was restricting it somewhat, I figured you might have an explanation."

"That is most unusual, here bring me your wand."

Harry gave him his wand and he observed it, gave it a wave and fireworks came out.

"Most unusual, curious, very curious, trying to use more power you say? Are you able to channel pure magic through your wand?" he said raising his eyebrow.

"Um, yea? Makes a nice breeze but I've been busy trying to make it more forceful"

By now both his eyebrows were thoroughly raised.

"And how powerful have you made the breeze?"

Harry was confused at the line of questioning but answered anyways.

"Uh, pretty powerful, gale force I guess, ive been trying to use it to cut but the progress is slow, I sheared a pillow the other day." He laughed, thinking his achievement was rather small, but it quickly died down when Ollivander's eyebrows attempted to escape his face.

"That is most impressive, you are incredibly magically gifted, I have figured out what is wrong, the problem is not in your wand specifically but wands in general."

"What do you mean?"

"Wands were invented by my ancestors around 300BC, Before that people either used wandless magic, staves, or any other medium which resonated with them, the problem with this is that teaching magic to other is incredibly hard when each person uses magic differently, thus wands were born, and they allowed a standerdised way to teach magic to others."

"And for almost all this is fine, however some have larger magical cores, like yourself and need either a better medium, like the elder wand in the case of Dumbledore."

"Elder wand? As in THE, elder wand?"

"Yes, it is common knowledge amongst those old enough to see the battle between him and Grindlewald. In any case, I doubt you'll be able to claim it so we can go for the next best thing, a stave."

"But you said staves were discontinued."

"That is true, most wizards were not powerful enough to warrant a stave, so the fact it can channel more magic than a wand wasn't as useful compared to the added intricacies you can create with a wand merely by waving it as opposed to having to consciously mold magic for a stave."

"If that's the case, why not just use wandless magic?"

"Because a stave doesn't just channel your magic, it resonates with it, amplifies it, not many walk into this store after acquiring a wand, not many need to, I created a charm I placed on all wands so that those who would need staves will feel the need to seek me out."

"Really? And have people come?"

"Oh yes, not many, only a handful, powerful wizards, old wizards though, with mature cores, it is most curious that you came here so young."

"Ok, staves sound quite interesting, do you have one I could see?"

"Have one?" He laughed jovially, "I can make one, as I said it is very rare to do this, thankfully I will only need to make the one despite your, difficulties." He said winking, poking fun at his first visit.

"Well, how can we create it?"

"Follow me." He walked tote front og the store and flipped the sign to closed then led Harry to a room down a hallway. They walked into a room which had a floor which was silvery and shiny, it was liquid and looked a lot like mercury, there were floating steps leading to the middle of the room where a slightly larger platform sat.

"Your wand." He motioned, Harry nodded and took out his wand which was levitated by Ollivander.

He heard an odd shifting sound as the bark which formed the handle unraveled and a single beautiful feather floated out. A few strands of fibre were pulled off the feather and put back in the wand which closed back up save for a splinter of holly. The splinter floated to Harry.

"I want you to put your finger on the bit of wood and channel as much magic into it as you possibly can."

Harry nodded and began doing so, the bit of wood vibrated, then a spark flew out, until it exploded, but mid explosion it froze, the now incredibly tiny particles fell towards the silvery floor, twisting and writhing as the fell, flowing along some unknown path. They were joined by the phoenix feather which had all the fibers pulled off and floated, intermingling with the particles. They impacted with the floor.

"This is my favourite part, Ollivander whispered."

The floor started swirling and began lifting up in the spot where the strands hit, from this bump wood began to grow, it grew up, twisting and gaining gnarls and bumps, yet to harry, it looked beautiful. Finally it was finished and floated into Harry's outstretched arm. Immediately he was filled with intense happiness and felt his connection to the stave. A breeze blew around the room and sthe floor swirled tumultuously.

"This, this is amazing." He whispered in awe.

"Here's your wand, you'll still need it for schoolwork, but after that nobody will mind."

Harry nodded, still bewildered.

Harry left the store an incredibly happy customer, even happier when he was informed that the sly dog hadn't put the trace on the stave and that as long as his wand was wrapped in special magical filled paper the ministry wouldn't detect ambient magic either so he would be free to use it at home.

Not even the Dursleys could get his spirits down today. They tried, specifically, they attempted to lock his trunk in the downstairs basement but he tapped his stave on the ground three times and levitated his trunk along with him, silently. It was a trick he had perfected with his wand to the point of not requiring an incantation or wand movement, he could do it merely by molding magic and willpower, the taps were for dramatic affect.

' _Im definitely going to use that for intimidation.'_

"Boy," his uncle started, face purple and spittle flying like a deranged minigun, "I will not tolerate such… _Freakishness_ in my house. Didn't your people ban you from using magic outside of school anyways." He finished smugly.

"Hmm, there's always a loophole uncle." He winked, mischeviously.

He didn't know if it was possible but his uncle's face turned even more purple.

"Though I must say, I do tjink I have outgrown the cupboard, I guess I can take Dudleys second bedroom."

"Youll do no such-"

"Yes, but first I must clean it up, oh its filthy, _scourgify._ "

The dust and grime in the room flowed inwards and formed a floating ball which disappeared as though sucked into a black hole.

' _Magic is amazing, yet absolutely insane, muggles remove dirt by using fibers on a stick, we destroy the very molecules and turn it into magical energy which then disperses, incredible really. A bit of a shame most wizards are unaware of this during school, I got lucky to stumble across it in the library on my, uh, unsavory adventures._

He had taken to browsing through the restricted, and higher difficulty levels of the library, it had taken him three weeks to figure out how to get the books to stop screaming at him but it was worth it.

Dudleys toys all levitated out and were packed away in the cupboard, he stepped in and marveled at the now fresh air, clean bed and desk and general just-got-spring-cleaned feel.

Vernon's face was alternating between going purple, and red with steam almost visibly rising off his head. Well, until the door slowly closed in front of him and a muttering of _Clostrum_ the door was locked.

"This is not BLOODY over freak." Vernon shouted before storming off.

Harry took this as an admission of guilt and unpacked his trunk into his new room before sitting at the desk, taking out the book on alchemy he got stuck right in. He got about 5 pages in and was cursing at his lack of materials and equipment to work on it.

' _Dammit! Guess another trip to the alley is in order. Ugh, but its late, guess ill go over the magical theory book instead.'_

He closed the book and placed it to one side of the table and walked over to Hedwig and stroked her feathers while sitting in the open windowsill. He began reading and watched as the sun set, the rays of sun filled him with an odd warmth, he had a, funny…feeling, that next school year something amazing would happen, but he couldn't place it. Taking a deep breath, he tried to feel the magic in the air, it was barely a twinkle to his still very low sensory ability to magic but it was a start, the sun he noticed, was magical, the rays themselves permeated happiness.

Hedwig let out a gentle trill, adding to the serene atmosphere, had anyone paid attention to the pariah they would see the wind blowing in his face, would see the happiness on his closed eyes, and the light of the sun causing him to radiate in a way that could be nothing but magic. He felt something unlock inside himself, something he hadn't truly found training the last month. He found serenity and happiness. But he wasn't the only one to find it, many hundreds of miles away, a girl lying in the grass on a hill, feeling the sun herself felt this shift in the magic. She opened her eyes and looked in his direction and saw the air laced with magic, swirling around a point. She smiled, _'almost…'_ the wind changed direction and a flower petal flew past the girl, yet she had disappeared, with naught a trace she was ever there.

-X-


	2. Chapter 2 - A very confusing visit

Harry sat there for hours, book forgotten just staring out to the sky, cursing light pollution and swearing he would live out in the country one day, where the skies are clear. He circulated his magic as best he could, causing the wind to circulate in the room. It was many hours later when he dragged himself to bed and slept, resolving that he would be going to Diagon alley in the morning, he had much to buy.

The next morning the Dursleys begrudgingly gave him breakfast, they may hate his freakishness but he was still family, just. He informed them he would be in the city the whole day and they were more than happy to have him out the house, he wasn't given chores as they figured he would use his freakishness to clean the house and they wouldn't be having any of that.

Harry boarded the bus on its way to London and resolved he would find some way to travel magically, figuring it would be instantaneous knowing the universe-breaking nature of half the magic they used.

He went through the leaky cauldron deciding that he wouldn't be hiding his staff from anyone, it was as part of him now as any magic, besides it was innately imperceptible to muggles. All a muggle would see is him walking around using a walking stick, he walked with it as though it was one anyways to maintain the illusion, wands looked like a pencil to muggles.

' _To think that magic innately does this, maybe there is more to the statue of secrecy than just a bunch of laws, maybe magic itself keeps it together.'_

He walked past the shops and noticed how, horrible he looked.

' _Hey, I'm rich and an eccentric ass wizard, may as well dress the part too.'_

So when he walked into Diagon Alley he walked halfway into madame milkins before deciding it was still to normal. He searched around until he found a store that had a poltergeist throwing advertisements at people, now that, he decided, was his place.

He walked into the door and was in awe at the amazing robes the store had to offer. There was one with a accurate star map that boasted that it moved in tune with the seasons. There was one that charmed a breeze to make it always look dramatic. And one that was on fire! All in all, he was in the right store.

"Ah, a customer, what can I do for you?" An elderly wizard with an eye twinkle, not unlike that of Dumbledore.

"Hello sir, I'm after a cloak that gives me an air of being a mysterious wizard." Harry said, dramatically.

"Ooh, you have come to the right place young one, follow me." He led them to another rack where a multitude of mysterious cloaks sat. "So, pick your poison, mist coming out the bottom, screaming illusions, or-"

"That one," He said, pointing to an old, grey coat, its arms and edges frayed as if its last owner died hundreds of years ago and it was being assaulted by moths.

"oh my you have taste. That one is charmed to feel gravity a tenth of what it is, gives that mysterious and wizardly air. This one is 16 galleons, for 30 you can get another two in the same price range."

Harry walked around the store and bought a robe that would display anything he willed it to, as well as another which was a brilliant orange and red that looked like sunlight, the best part was that it could brighten on will. In addition, he also bought a set of Hogwarts design robes but magically altered to be of the style and with the charm of the first robe he bought.

He left, a very happy customer, fitted out in his gray robes, that with the stave made him the spitting image of a powerful and mysterious sorcerer. He visited an alchemical store and bought chalk which he could magically infuse and a case with magically expanded slots filled with a pure form of most of the non-radioactive elements in the periodic table.

Satisfied with his haul he returned to the Dursleys and began practicing the alchemy, it went without saying that he was thoroughly impressed. For all its complexity alchemy was essentially equivalent exchange, every gain requires an equal sacrifice. Though, more complicated alchemy deals with magical materials and substances but that was way above his comprehension level now.

He spent the better part of the holidays working through his book and practicing alchemy, he was close to finishing all the books he had bought on the holidays and resolved to buy the next level for all his books when he went up to Diagon Alley to buy his school books for the next year. He had sent Ron and Hermione letters but hadn't gotten any reply, he sent the twins some as well but didn't get any reply until a few days back. He was stroking Hedwig when he felt some unusual bump in her fur, it was there he discovered a piece of incredibly thin paper that was rolled up and concealed in her fur. It was a letter from the twins informing his someone was interfering with his mail and that they would be picking him up on his birthday if they couldn't figure it out.

Harry lay back on the windowsill, _'The twins huh?'_ he realized that over his last month at Hogwarts he grew closer to the twins then he ever was with Ron. He figured it was because there was a shared maturity between him and the twins, Ron meanwhile hadn't you know, murdered anyone yet. He still shuddered when he thought about what he did. _'Justified or no, murder is murder.'_ Not even the thought of how many people Voldemort had killed help, because it wasn't just Voldemort he killed.

He sighed, and took a powder out of a pouch beside him, he picked some up and threw it in the air and swirled the air currents gently. This, combined with the moonlight calmed him down significantly. He whistled, "Hedwig," he took the note the twins wrote and turned it over, picking up a nearby pen he jotted: " _Damn, we can figure out who's been taking my mail when you guys pick me up, try to be careful and at least mildly inconspicuous."_ He rolled it up and placed it in her feathers like they had done and wrote another note for the thief to take as a decoy and sent her on her way.

The next day he received his stationery and went on the familiar trip to diagon alley, enjoying the looks people sent his way due to his attire, his past year had brought him out of his shell immensely and he found confidence he never knew he had. End result was that his char was now not hidden by his fringe and he purchased an odd pair of glasses, they were still round but the frame was gold and if he twisted the right lens it folds outwards creating a telescope, and the left creates a microscope. _'Oh I love trinkets, little o'l magical bitties ey'_

He bought all the supplies besides his books and walked into the book store, apparently his new defense professor needed an _entire_ damn book collection. Opening the cover just to scan and see what it was all about he realized that there was no mention whatsoever of any actual spells or tactics. _'Its just a bloody novel, I'm not buying any of this.'_

He walked out of the shop and decided not go home, since the Dursleys would be having some or other work people home. Going to Forteusces ice-cream parlor he ordered the largest ice cream they had and settled down to do some alchemy.

"Its quite odd for a young one to take an interest in alchemy, ooh you've got a stave too." An old and wizened voice came from behind him.

"Hi, mr Forteusce I presume?"

"Yes, that's me, You don't mind if I intrude? I haven't had a good conversation in ages, what with Albus always off scheming." He said with a chuckle.

"No, not at all, I'm Harry." He said offering his hand.

"Oh, the celebrity himself I see."

"Yea, though I intend to be famous for more than just that." He said with determination.

"Ambitious one ey? Little slytherin I presume?"

"Nah, Gryffindor, couldn't stand being near the Malfoy prat, let alone sharing a house."

"Haha, snake hiding among the lions. Id almost say it was poetic. Alchemy though, why?"

"Reminds me of muggle science, I'm a bit of a nerd see, figured I'd fit right into alchemy."

"Ah, you talk about muggle science as if it was actually made by muggles. I think you'll find most of the great scientists were in fact alchemists and squibs." He laughed.

"Why am I not surprised, muggles are a bit, useless sometimes."

"They are, aren't they? Like the idiot younger brother. But there's a reason for it you know, magic enhances all aspect of creatures it inhabits, including intelligence."

"That makes sense, I mean there's even a tree at Hogwarts that has destructive tendencies."

"Dumbledore was telling me about that, laughed myself silly, I have a doormat that tells people how their feet smell, the looks on their faces are priceless."

"Well, I'll leave you be, have a nice day young one, oh, and if you're looking to be famous and you're up to the challenge you might want to consider the dueling circuit." He handed harry a brochure written on parchment.

"Thank you sir, you too, I'll look into that actually, might be fun." He got up and turned to leave.

"Oh by the way Harry, word is you're busy being considered for an order of merlin for defeating you-know-who the other month, quite spectacular really, I know ill vote for you."

' _Wait, really? Wow, I didn't even know Dumbledore had told anyone.'_

Harry walked out, slightly bewildered at the course of events, he was on his way home when a small creature with big ears wearing what looked like an extremely tattered and greasy pillowcase.

"Hello?"

"Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts." It said.

"I what? Who are you?"

"Dobby says there is a plot afoot and great Harry potter must not go to Hogwarts." Dobby said more forcefully.

"I can't do that Dobby, I must go to Hogwarts, Hogwarts is my home, I'm safer there anyways."

Dobby was getting frustrated, "Why return to the place when your friends don't even write."

"Are you the one who's been stealing my mail?" Harry asked, angrily.

Dobby went and was about to bang his head on a wall but Harry stopped him, "What are you doing?"

"Dobby is sorry, great Harry Potter, but it needed to be done."

"Well, what's happening at Hogwarts?"

Dobby's dedication to punish himself got fiercer as soon as he asked the question.

"Ok ok ok, you can't tell me, but I have to go, how else am I going to learn to defend myself from the danger, what if it escapes Hogwarts?"

Dobby looked to be deep in thought.

"Great Harry Potter is brave but dobby cannot allow this." With that he popped out, Harry wondered what he had done but realized when, as soon as he walked into the house he was grabbed and shoved past bits of cake on the floor and roughly shoved into his room.

"You will stay here boy, not even your magic will save you this time." Vernon said angrily, before disappearing and putting a large number of padlocks on Harry's door.

The next day he installed incredibly thick bars to his window to prevent his escape, well, they thought it could, Harry stayed put because he knew the twins would be fetching him when he reached through the bars to take their response, happy that Hedwig had escaped his fate. He occupied the time until his birthday by finishing this year's books and practicing the spells with his staff. He was annoyed at the, lack, of food his family gave him _'could be worse, at least I'm alive.'_

When it finally came to his birthday he was looking out the window when a car materialized in front of him, occupied by two grinning faces.

He smiled and raised his staff and caused the bolts to silently unscrew themselves, levitating the cage to the front door and reapplying it so that the door would be blocked. He laughed at the twins shocked expressions when he came in with his trunk levitating behind him.

"Harry," the Twins whined in unison, "we had a plan all fixed up and ready to go, a whole week we spent trying to figure out a way to get rid of the bars. Stole mum's wand too, cause it ain't got the trace. What we get for rescuing the genius I guess."

"Good to see you guys though." He smiled. "See you didn't bring Ron with."

"Ronnikins wouldn't know subtlety if it hit him in the face, nice robes by the way, got that eccentric wizard vibe down almost as good as Dumbledore. And the staff too, were impressed."

"Haha, you flatter me." He replied with a curtsey.

"We left extra early so we should arrive long before daybreak, so we won't freak out mum. Without Ron, we could actually leave on time" they chuckled. "Though we do want to know why the hell they locked you inside? Also, you looked like you've barely been fed the last two months."

"I'm alive."

"Just barely." They retorted

"look, they are just idiot muggles that are afraid of what they don't understand, they've never hurt me if that's what you're asking."

"That's a start at least."

"If it helps I don't help matters by practicing alchemy in the room, I've caused like three explosions today, doesn't create the best image for me does it?"

"No, but if they try anything we will hunt them down."

"And I don't deny that."

"Now that that's settled what have you been up to these holidays?" And with that Harry described his holidays, how he got his staff, how he'd applied for the under 13 British dueling tournaments in November. It was about 3am when they finally arrived at the Burrow, Harry wrote a note to mrs Weasley telling her he is with the twins and that they got here safely. He added a bit on how valiant they were and how it created a great picture of their family, to ensure the twins don't get in trouble. Then they walked to the twin's room where harry laid on a Hammock the twins had made, aware that now they were near traced wands his magic could be detected. He went to bed an extremely happy and satisfied boy.

The next morning, they woke up fairly late and prepared to face the Spanish inquisition. Opening the door tenderly they creeped down the stars silently and were almost at the table when they felt a magical presence behind them. Mrs Weasley was standing in her full glory, alternating between looking proud, concerned and angry. Eventually she just sighed and shook her head.

"At the very least you left a note, and didn't involve Ron, though the note does not appear to be in your handwriting." She said sternly. "Hello Harry, its good to see you, holidays alright?"

"As good as it could be I suppose."

"That's nice to hear, now tarry on I have two reckless troublemakers to, _talk,_ to" She said dangerously.

Harry mouthed good luck and walked into the kitchen spotting Ron, Hermione, and what looks like Ron's younger sister.

"Hello, Ginny, is it?" He asked, but was taken aback when she turned as scarlet as he hair and ran off.

"Oh, did I say something wrong?"

"Nah mate, she likes you." Ron said bluntly.

' _Did he seriously just blurt that out? That's not something you tell someone.'_

"Ok, uh, how was your holiday, yours too Hermione."

They talked for a while about their respective holidays, Ron and Hermione were jealous of his staff but he told them that with hard work they could have one too.

"Oh, Harry dear," Mrs Weasley started, walking in with two unashamed boys. "The Lovegoods are coming over to tea this afternoon, I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you."

"Lovegoods? As in the people who write the Quibbler?" Harry asked excitedly, getting even more excited when Molly nodded. "That's awesome, I bet they're eccentric."

"Eccentric doesn't cut it." Ron stated derisively.

"Ron." Mrs Weasley reprimanded.

Harry had discovered the quibbler rather early into the holidays, and boy did he love it. The complete madness, it was the embodiment of everything he loved about the wizarding world. At first he thought maybe there was some or other hidden message in the madness, but nope, it was just raving. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

Time passed, lunch eventually came around when harry felt the small tingle of magic nearby, stronger than usual actually, as soon as he noticed it he saw Molly, as she insisted he called her, perk up.

"You feel it too Harry?" At his nod, she smiled. "The twins get to you, did they?"

"Yea, how did you know?"

"Mother's hunch dear, you must've been practising hard to at least feel it, tell me how strong do you feel it?"

"Quite weakly, like a small tingle." He said sheepishly.

"Oh no worries dear, most don't even bother to learn how to mould their own magic and sense magic until their later years." She praised.

"Why thank you. Work in progress though, but I must say, Mr Lovegood is quite powerful, I can feel him far easier than most people, daughters no slouch either, powerful as most adults. I think."

Molly was about to reply when the door open and Harry could see the two individuals. This was when two things happened, first he realised that he had the people _the wrong way around_ , secondly he was confused, _'why is she winking at me, what does she know I don't?'_

The girl skipped into the house, she was wearing a light grey dress with beautiful flowers which seemed to grow across the dress in real time. Her hair was Almost white and her eyes were a pale grey, she had an air of, dottiness just like he had an air of mystery and power. _'Then again I am I little dotty myself.'_. Harry started to notice some of the more peculiar aspects of her appearance, she wore a necklace of butterbeer corks and radish earrings, about to pass it off when he noticed tiny runes carved into them. _A method to her madness?'_

"Hi, I'm-"

"Hi Harry, You seem awfully devoid of nargles, in fact the spitterflies seem to favour you."

' _Nargles? Code maybe?'_

Luna spent the next few hours completely confusing Harry, by the time they had left he was unsure as to what reality even was anymore.

"Ready for dinner Harry?" Molly called jovially from the other room.

"Wha? Dinner? Oh, yea, food." Harry dazedly muttered before stumbling into the dining room and almost sitting on George in the process.

' _Or was that Fred? Or is this all just an illusion? Gha! My brain hurts.'_

"I see you kept Luna good company Harry." The twins smirked while nudging him with their elbows.

Harry blinked, the world coming into slightly better focus.

"Who? Luna? Oh yea, well she's quite…uh…interesting?" He struggled to find words. "I don't even know, I am now severely questioning reality."

"Don't know what you're on about mate," Ron started, "she's balmy she is." He said condescendingly.

"Odd, yes, balmy, not so much. I cant place it but there's is, something about her." He said, gesturing with his hands to try and emphasise his point but to no avail.

"Ooh, Harry's in lo-ove." The twins chorused.

"I'm 12 dammit, have some modesty." He grouched. "Not in that way idiots, magically speaking, Miss Weasley-?"

"Molly." She corrected swiftly.

"Molly," He laughed. "Your magical senses are a lot stronger, what is it with her magic?"

Molly sat silent for a few moments, gathering her words. "Luna," she said carefully, "Is an enigma, her magic is different granted, but we aren't sure what it is. Our best guess is that she is a seer but she hasn't spoken any prophecies."

"Interesting."

"Oh well, best not to dwell on it dear, dig in everyone."

Everyone began eating with gusto, albeit some, more than what was required.

The next month passed by in a blur, he spent most of that time with the twins, learning alchemy and teaching it to the two of them. That was an interesting day…

 _Flashback_

"So Harry, besides breaking every possible underage wizarding law what have you been up to?" George asked while the three of them were sitting in Fred and George's room. No, they weren't plotting an amazing prank on Snape, why would you think that…? The author said in mock innocence, pushing a thick wad of blueprints behind his back.

Harry, stopped swinging on the hammock before smiling evilly. "Why you wound me so, I think you will find I did more than just learning how to unscrew a grate."

They gave him an eager look, waiting for him to continue.

"Hey, instead of telling you, I can show you." He sat up and drew from his pocket two vials of powder, he poured the one into a mortar and grinded it up incredibly fine, moving it fast soa s to add some heat too. He threw the other powder into the air, forming a cloud of particles in fine suspension. Taking the grinded particles, he threw them into the cloud he had formed. At first nothing happened, then there were tine pops of brilliant colours all occurring in the cloud of mixed powders, brilliant greens, oranges, reds, the room lit up in a dazzling battle of colours. The twins eyes went wide, then they shone with glee. Then as one their heads turned towards Harry, one side framed by the lights, the other dark as night. They bent onto their knees dramatically and made a show of kneeling in front of Harry.

"we are not worthy, Oh Great Master, teach us your ways." They chanted deeply.

"Of course ill teach you, how best to prank others than with a lost art, who would suspect?"

As soon as those words left his mouth a rather peculiar series of events occurred, the general student populace felt a shudder, McGonnagal got an early headache. Dumbledore, sitting in his office felt a wave of pure glee. Meanwhile in a small office in the heart of the ministry, said office was the most horrendous shade of pink with pink fur carpets lining the entire room. On a pink chair in this pink room sat a portly witch, delightfully signing some papers which would declare centaurs to be class 3 sentient beings, in other words, trolls. Her pen scratched the parchment as she placed the final signature. No sooner had she done that a crack startled her, she jumped up in fright looking around for the source of it when all 31 frames of her cats shattered. She was inconsolable, what could have done this, she thought to herself, who could have done this. She searched frantically for an unharmed frame but she found none. Her clock had stopped too, resting on 9.

Back at the Weasleys house Harry Fred and George were oblivious to the plight of the poor souls who would learn to rue this day. Ok maybe not that oblivious considering the plans they had drawn up.

Time flied for the next month, and Harry had hit a snag, well, a few snags, ok a lot of snags. Where previously he could say an incantation, and do the wand movement and hey presto, magic. Now he did not need an incantation but to use magic he needed to mould his magic and pass it through his staff to amplify it. This meant he had to actually know how his spells work if he had any hopes of performing them, though this was a bonus with spells he had already known well they were limited.

' _my staff is a double-edged sword, requires far more effort mentally to learn even the simplest spells but the immense power amplification I get with this thing more than makes up for it.'_

Hermione had arrived to stay a week before school started and was immensely fascinated by the stave and resolved to become powerful enough for one herself. Though Harry reminisced that perhaps he had a bit too much fun on her behalf…

"Psst, Hermione." He whispered.

"Yes." She whispered

She turned to face him only to realise he wasn't there, starting to freak out until she heard wild laughter coming from the other room. Storming into the room she discovered Harry and the twins rolling around on the floor laughing.

She gave Harry her most dangerous look, "This will not be the end, I will win, mark my words." She muttered. Harry was frozen in mock fear then kept on laughing, not knowing the horror he had unleashed upon himself.

The days passed, occasionally he would find Luna skipping among the flowers, to anyone else this could be passed off as just a bit of her craziness but Harry was starting to realise otherwise. He noticed how the ground she was skipping on was imbued with powerful magic and after questioning Molly he realised she was skipping on top of a magical ley line.

' _What is it with her? I can see the intelligence in her eyes and yet she acts completely insane, and the way she looks at things its as if she's looking through them.'_

Harry decided that she was a mystery, one he would make sure to solve seeing as she was starting school that year. He tried asking Ginny about her seeing as they were friends for ages but she just blushed and ran away, though not fast enough for him to not notice the dark rings under her eyes.

The day before they set out to Hogwarts Harry decided to join Luna in journeying across the ley lines, minus the skipping for him though. It was invigorating, the magic coursed through his bones, energising him, causing his thoughts to speed up.

"I can see why you do this Luna, it's amazing." He exclaimed excitedly. Luna just smiled and hummed an odd tune he had never heard before. He shook his head, amused, before leaning back and using the wind to float to the ground softly. Luna just dropped but the ground acted like a pillow, softly catching her.

"You're quite interesting Luna, gotta admit," he started, "friends?" He held out his hand which she shook softly. He smiled and laid back feeling the sun shine on him and the rays of sunlight bathe his face. Completely unaware that in the distance two pairs of eyes were watching him somewhat sadly.

"Will he be ready?" A raspy, old voice croaked out.

"He has grown much, the young one, but only time will tell." A second voice said, softer, and decidedly feminine.

"He has faced many trails in his life and he will face more."

"We can help him still." She suggested.

"No, we have done much already, you know the rules." He reprimanded.

"But without our help-"

"He will do it, have faith, he is a fighter."

"I hope you are right." She said solemnly as they both started to fade. "Voldemort is the least he has to worry about." With that they both turned to dust and floated away with the wind, twirling across the landscape, noticed only by a pair of pale grey eyes.

-X-

 **As I'm sure you may have noticed It is a humorous take on the world at times but do let me know if it gets too silly (Monty Python references are shameless). My intention isn't for harry to be super powerful or anything, as such I'm majorly supping up Voldemort in the story plus there's the whole background plot I'm hoping to develop. If you have any suggestions about my writing styles or errors let me know, I'm open to criticism (free speech for the win). I don't have any particular update schedule so they'll happen as they come I guess, well, I bid thee a good day.**


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